NEWS & EVENTS

As Root Center continues to build new relationships and grow our clientele in New Haven County, we are so appreciative of WTNH CH 8 for featuring our Branford Clinic! We loved showing Reporter, Jillian Andrews, around our newest facility and talking all about what do to provide high quality care to our clients every day. Our newest site in Branford is conveniently located inside of the Stony Creek Medical Center. You can learn more about it here !

We are so excited to announce Root Center’s newest Chief Medical Officer! John Nazarian, M.D., is the Chief Medical Officer at the Root Center for Advanced Recovery. He is Board Certified in General Psychiatry and Addiction Psychiatry. John received his bachelor’s degree in Political and Social Thought from the University of Virginia and his medical degree from the University of Maryland. He completed his residency at the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, Westchester Division, in White Plains, NY, and his fellowship in College Mental Health at the Yale University Health Service. John previously served as Medical Director at Community Mental Health Affiliates in New Britain, CT. He also has extensive experience working in both inpatient and outpatient psychiatric treatment settings. John has a passion for treating individuals with addictions and embraced office-based Medication-Assisted Treatment in his private practice soon after buprenorphine became widely available. We are lucky to have Dr. Nazarian at Root, please join us in wishing him a warm welcome!

The Root Center is excited to announce the promotion of Aly Fox, LPC, ATR as the Clinical Supervisor of the Middletown, Saybrook location and new Branford location! Aly has been with the Root Center for a little over three years and has been promoted within from IOP counselor to Senior Counselor, and now, Clinic Supervisor. She brings with her years of experience in clinical work expanding from hospital and inpatient work, in-home therapy, and outpatient care- including her own personal private practice. Throughout her career, Aly has cultivated an eclectic approach to therapy as well as clinical oversight and supervision of staff. She completed her Master's Degree at Albertus Magnus College and is dually licensed as a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and Art Therapist (ATR). She graduated top of her class and received the academic excellence award in 2019. She additionally is a Certified Integrative Mental Health Professional (CIMHP) with a focus in nutrition and mental health. She has always had a calling to connect and work with people, whether that be in a therapeutic relationship or supporting and mentoring growing therapists. From a young age, she has expressed empathy and compassion for those around her. She is continuously committed to enriching the lives of the people around her and provides support in any and all capacities. Aly is excited to be a part of the continued growth here at the Root Center. With her new role, she is going to continue to pursue the growth of the MOB sites and maintain the positive regard and compassion for all clients we serve!

Root Center is excited for the return of Allison Pons as our New Britain Residential Clinic Supervisor! Allison returns 5 years later to bring her expertise and passion for her work to Root Center's most exciting undertaking yet... our very first Residential Treatment Facility! Allison began her field work many years ago as an intern at Root Center for Advanced Recovery in one of our Methadone Maintenance Treatment Programs. She is now excited to be return to the Root Center, in her new role as Residential Clinical Supervisor. Allison returns to RCAR after further developing her career in the addictions and mental health field. Allison is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor (LADC), and Internationally Certified Gambling Clinician (ICGC-I). She also has more than 8 years of clinical and administrative experience in outpatient behavioral health care settings. She has enjoyed providing individual and group services to adolescents and adults and working as part of multidisciplinary teams to support a whole-person approach to recovery. Allison is excited to be part of RCAR’s first residential facility, and introducing this new service line to the community and patients we serve, providing high-quality mental health and addictions treatment. Welcome (back), Allison!

Root Center is so excited to welcome (back) Lisa Barbati as our Director of Quality & Compliance! Lisa returns to Root after obtaining her BSN and developing her career in Quality and Compliance. Lisa is Board Certified in Addictions Nursing (CARN) and has over 33 years of Nursing experience in Acute Hospital Care, Inpatient Behavioral Health Services and Outpatient Addiction Treatment Services. She served Root Center for 24 years in several prior capacities as a staff nurse and RN supervisor and is the 2019 RCAR recipient of the Nightingale Award for Excellence in Nursing. Most recently, Lisa held roles in Quality Improvement as a Clinical Quality RN with Intercommunity, Inc., and as a Virtual RN with Trinity Health of New England. In these roles, she honed her skills in Quality Assurance, Clinical Documentation Compliance, Data Analysis, and Ambulatory Care Risk Management. She's worked closely with leadership in Quality and Compliance, acted as a change agent and subject matter expert for several Quality Improvement initiatives, and assisted in developing tools and training on Quality & Compliance platforms. Lisa is dedicated to getting the facts right and maintaining high credibility. She thrives on research, making sense of things, and finding balance. She advocates for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, serving as an advocate for Autism and the LGBTQ community. Lisa is excited to be back in her new role as Director of Quality and Compliance at Root.

Our Community Forum on, "The Epidemic of Loneliness: The Silent Sadness", was a success! Thank you to all of our wonderful panelists for sharing their time and expertise. It was a great evening filled with thoughtful discussion and conversation. The Root Center is proud to offer free events like this as part of our Advanced Recovery Institute (ARI). The ARI is committed to research and training to elevate clinical care. It is our hope that by organizing these forums that we will help expand our understanding and awareness of topics that impact our communities. Thank you again to our panelists: Andi Campbell, President of Wellspark Health, an EmblemHealth company. Dr. Peter Donato, Vice President of Clinical Services at Apple Rehab. Deb Bibbins, JD, MBA, Founder and CEO of For All Ages, a convener of CT Collaborative to End Loneliness. Dr. Saud Anwar, MD FCCP, State Senator, Deputy President Pro Tempore, Medical Doctor specializing in lung diseases and critical care medicine, occupational and environmental medicine. Allison Gaffey, PhD, FAHA, Assistant Professor at Yale School of Medicine. and Dr. John Nazarian, MD, Medical Director at Community Mental Health Affiliates, Inc. (CMHA), and future Chief Medical Officer of the Root Center for Advanced Recovery.

The Root Center is excited to announce the appointment of Jeff DiGirolamo as our new Director of Human Resources! Jeff brings over 35 years of experience in both the private and nonprofit healthcare sectors, with an extensive background in executive leadership and human capital management. Throughout his career, Jeff has held several high-level executive roles, guiding small to medium-sized organizations with a focus on improving operations and organizational culture. Most recently, he served in leadership positions at Perception Programs and Coordinated Transportation Solutions, where his work centered on supporting underserved populations. In these roles, Jeff led human resource functions through both direct oversight and strategic managerial leadership, demonstrating a deep commitment to building effective teams and fostering a positive workplace environment. Jeff's passion for helping those seeking life transformation extends beyond his professional endeavors. He has dedicated time as a Youth Minister and serves as a board member for MARCH, Inc. in Manchester, CT, further underscoring his commitment to community service and advocacy. We are thrilled to have Jeff join the Root Center, and we look forward to the impact his expertise and compassion will have on our organization and the people we serve. Please join us in welcoming Jeff to the Root Center family!

Ashley Hickey, Root Director of Operations; Steven Zuckerman, Root CEO/President, Pat Rehmar, Root Board member; Robin Comey, CT State Representative

Summer seemingly flew by for us here at the Root Center. From events to new projects, we were busy! Since our last newsletter, we made some excellent progress on new construction for our newest clinics set to open soon, some as early as this month! We expanded our Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) and Methadone Management Treatment Program (MMTP) admissions to include Norwich on Fridays, we started our 2024-2025 Clinical Grand Rounds series, we held our annual Remembrance Ceremony for International Overdose Awareness Day, and we are very close to officially opening our first clinic in New Haven county! 

International Overdose Awareness Day is recognized yearly on August 31st. This year, the Root Center for Advanced Recovery hosted our Annual International Overdose Awareness Day Remembrance Ceremony in our Manchester Memorial Garden. In 2023, the Department of Public Health reported that there were 1,343 confirmed overdose deaths. That was 121 fewer deaths than the year prior, and yet that number is still staggeringly high. Every year, during Overdose Awareness Week, Root invites the community to join us as we come together to honor and remember those lost to overdose, and support those still struggling. The event was held in our Memorial Garden, w e began with some brief remarks from Root Leadership, Community Leaders, and also heard from a Root Center patient. Directly following these remarks, we had a planting ceremony. This is a tradition we started in 2023, where for International Overdose Awareness Day, we add a new plant to the Memorial Garden. This year, our new addition to the garden was voted on by our social media followers. We are thrilled to announce that the Butterfly Bush won by an astounding margin! It looks great in the garden.

Summer is just around the corner, and the Root Center is proud to continue making strides on major projects and initiatives. Since our last newsletter, we wrapped up our most recent internships, hosted a Community Forum on Harm Reduction with leaders in the mental health/addiction space and political officials, celebrated our employees with our annual Years of Service Awards Celebration, and sponsored and participated in Middletown PrideFest! In our last newsletter, we mentioned our new Middletown healthcare clinic grand opening. In this newsletter, we are excited to say that in April, we officially started accepting patients! This new healthcare facility is bringing much needed mental health and addiction services to Middlesex County, and we are excited to now be fully operational.

Every year, the Root Center hosts a Years of Service Awards event. This event is meant to celebrate our staff who have been with the organization for 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 years. This year, we held part of the ceremony in our beautiful Manchester Memorial Garden, and then finished with a dinner inside of our Manchester facility. We are so appreciative to have staff who have made Root a place to call home for so many years. We are so thankful for each and every person's years of dedication and efforts. Congratulations to: Rodney Alexander, Norwich - 5 years Shannon Arnone, New Britain - 5 years Taylor Burgos, Doctors, Hartford - 5 years Michelle Langevin, Henderson Johnson, Hartford - 5 years Ryan Nicoletti, Manchester Administration - 5 years Kelly O'Heron, Torrington - 5 years Liza Pollard, Central Admissions, Hartford - 5 years Amanda Roy, New Britain - 5 years Sheri Watts, Manchester Administration - 5 years Yolanda Villanueva, New Britain - 10 years Jessica Wozinak, Henderson Johnson, Hartford - 15 years Ray Bishop, Henderson Johnson, Hartford - 20 years Eric Rosario, Doctors, Hartford - 20 years Kim Pascale, Henderson Johnson, Hartford - 25 years Maria Sanchez, Manchester Administration - 25 years If you're interested in a career with Root, please check out our current openings here ! Check out some highlights from the event in this video:

May is National Nurses Month , and here at Root, we want to recognize our Root Center for Advanced Recovery Nurse of the Year, Julie Handleman, R.N., B.S.N.! Julie has been with Root Center for six years, and she is currently the Nursing Supervisor at our New London Clinic. Julie embodies what it means to be a trusted healthcare professional. She represents Root in a way that exudes dedication and compassion, and we are honored to have her on our team! Thank you, Julie, for your continued dedication to our patients, and our organization, allowing us to continue providing hope to those in need. Please join us in congratulating, Julie, our 2024 Root Nurse of the Year!

We are excited for our next Community Forum! Save the date... Thursday, June 6th, we will be hosting a discussion on "Harm Reduction: Navigating Public and Political Perceptions". Join us for a discussion on this topic with leaders in the mental health/addiction space. This event is free/open to the public, and you can attend in-person or virtually. It will be from 6-8pm on the 2nd floor of our Manchester Clinic: 335 Broad Street. This is a moderated discussion from 6-7pm, with a Q&A section with attendees to follow. Hors d'oeuvres will be served, and attendees are encouraged to stay, eat, and mingle. To register to attend in-person, please go here . To register to attend virtually, please go here . Panelists listed below:

The Root Center is proud to announce that we had a successful Grand Opening ceremony for our newest Healthcare Clinic, which is the first and only mental health and addiction treatment facility to offer methadone in Middlesex County. The statistics regarding mental health and addiction treatment needs are staggering. Middlesex County had previously seen the highest year-over-year increase in overdose deaths, and yet, it was the only county in Connecticut with no methadone clinic, as it previously had bylaws in their planning and zoning regulations explicitly prohibiting methadone clinics within city limits. This new clinic will help change the face of recovery for residents in Middlesex County, giving them the option of seeking treatment in their own community, rather than having to travel, often lengthy distances, on public transit or rideshare services, 6 days a week as they begin treatment. Our goal at the Root Center is to be able to offer mental health and addiction treatment services across Connecticut, especially to those often most marginalized in our communities. We are striving to make treatment more inclusive and accessible for those in need, as we know one of the greatest predictors of treatment success is services close to home as it helps to facilitate sustained participation. We are honored to now have a state-of-the-art clinic that we hope will make our patients and staff feel dignified and proud when they walk into the building. With the help of Tecton Architects , we are redefining what it looks like to recover. We want to make sure that our healthcare facilities look no different than any other type of establishment that someone would go to to seek care. This new clinic is located at 392 Washington Street in Middletown. We anticipate accepting patients at the end of March. Please call our Central Admissions to learn more at (800) 862-2181. Special thanks to all of our state legislators, Middletown Mayor, Ben Florsheim, community members, and media partners for helping to make this a success. We know this new facility will go on to help the more than 150 patients we anticipate treating. Check out the photos below of the clinic, and our Grand Opening celebration!

Our partnership celebration with Pequot Health Care and the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation was a day to remember! Thank you so much to everyone who made it possible, and an extra special thank you to the Yootay Singers for their amazing opening and closing drum! We are so excited for this partnership, as we know it will go on to help so many who are in need of mental health and addiction treatment. Some of the folks pictured throughout: Dr. Setu Vora - MPTN CMO Bruce Simons - Root Center Board President MPTN Council Chairman Rodney Butler Chris Manzi - PHC President Heather Angel Mars-Martins - PHC Margaux Farrell - Root Center Marketing Director Patricia Rehmer - Root Center and PHC Board Member State Representative Aundr é Bumgardner Shanna Reels - Director of Tribal Health Service at MPTN Yootay Singers

The Root Center is now offering problem gambling treatment! Is gambling a problem in your life? Are you ready to start your recovery journey? Join us Friday mornings from 9am to 10am for our problem gambling program hosted virtually, and in-person at our New London Clinic: 931 Bank Street. What to expect? A safe space to discuss the impact of gambling your life. Identify the ways gambling may contribute to substance use. See how gambling has altered your family unit and socializing. Build skills to cope and identify community supports. Recognize you are NOT alone! Please call our Central Admissions line at (800) 862-2181 for more information.